Free Office Phone System Advice
Office phone systems for small and medium-sized businesses run the gauntlet these days, which is likely why you are researching which phone system will work best for you and your business.
Even with thousands of vendors out there to confuse you, your choices remain relatively simple if you keep to the facts. First of all, before you begin scouting vendors decide exactly what it is that you need; because remember, it is their job to try and sell you the most expensive system (and of course to sell you their system over their competitors). Knowing exactly what you want and exactly what your budget is will help you stay on track while looking at the vendors' millions-of-dollars-per-year marketing material.
The first thing you need to decide is exactly what features you truly need now and which you can upgrade to in the future. The most popular features that businesses are looking for immediately are:
- IVR/auto-attendant
- Directory
- Call waiting, call holding and hold music
- Caller ID
- Conferencing
- Extension-to-extension calling
- Call park
- Voicemail
- Out-of-office assistant
- Call forwarding
If you are looking for quick scan-able bullets of advice (and of course you are, every Internet-generation baby is looking for the fastest route to info) then here you are:
- Compare the costs of your phone system communication lines in order to keep your costs down. Evaluate the cost of copper lines, PRI, BRI, T1, MPLS and local loop.
- Before assuming that VoIP will be cheaper, evaluate your calling patterns to ensure you are looking at the right type of systems. Evaluate your long distance use, local use, feature use, number of users and mobility needs.
- Compare the local and long distance charges of various systems and vendors, including both VoIP and traditional PBX-type systems.
- If you choose a VoIP solution, ensure that your internet connection can handle the additional bandwidth needed by a VoIP system. If it can't then include the cost of upgrading your line into your cost assessment of VoIP vs. PBX.
- Predict your company's determined growth to ensure that you will not outgrow your system within the near future.
- Do a cost analysis as to whether it will be more cost effective to buy a solution outright or to rent it from a hosting company. THEN decide whether you want a hosted, a managed or a purchased outright solution.
- Decide whether you want to make a small initial investment now and have on-going costs in the future or whether you have the budget to buy everything outright.
- Ask for a demonstration from your short-listed vendors.
- Get references from your short-listed vendors.
- Ensure your quotes contain all associated costs, including any wiring, cables, installation costs, management costs, handsets, (wireless) headsets, service contracts, initial training, equipment warranties, etc.
- Find out if your current software, hardware and wiring/cabling will work with your new solution.
- Ask your short-listed vendors what their product roadmap is to ensure that they are growing in the direction your company needs. Also be sure to ask how much it will cost to upgrade to new features in the future.
- When asking for references be sure to evaluate your short-listed vendors' response time.
- Speak about disaster recovery plans with your short-listed vendors.
